I’ll Go Your Way Too

What is love?

Millions of words written. But only two people in love really understand.

Roman wedding ceremony 250 AD (Wiki Commons, Marie-Lan Nguyen, 2011)

Roman wedding ceremony 250 AD (Wiki Commons, Marie-Lan Nguyen, 2011)

The Romans got it pretty right. The bride whispered her love vow to the groom: ‘As you are Gaius, I am Gaia’. They were then as one.

Leonard Cohen and love (Wiki Commons, Rama, 2008)

Leonard Cohen and love (Wiki Commons, Rama, 2008)

Fast forward about 2000 years.

Leonard Cohen has often written about love, in songs and poetry. His poetry varies, all interesting, some naughty (to use an old-fashioned word) and most very personal. His Book of Longing was published in 2006. The shortest poem is the best. It delivers the feint then the punch, and it’s about love, in two lines. It goes “You go your way… I’ll go your way too.

It’s just that bit better than the Roman ‘Ubi tu Gaius…’ because it suggests togetherness, not just amalgamation. And commitment, not just sharing. And forgiveness, not just shared pain.

And that’s love.

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